Metal window frame



Jan. 2, 1934. e. CHAUVET METAL WINDOW FRAME 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 15, 1932 w W 5 v m Jan. 2, 1934. G. CHAUVET METAL WINDOW FRAME Filed Jul 15 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 III/111mVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 1 I l/ v IVII I II{IIIIIIIII Jan. 2, 1934. G. CHAUVET METAL WINDOW FRAME 4 Sheets-Sheet 5* 7 Filed July 15, 1932 //V1 En/ Toe 775/9/51. CV/flUl/ET Jan. 2, 1934. e. CHAUVET METAL WINDOW FRAME Filed July 15, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 l The sashes slidenoiselessly,

Patented Jan. 2, 1934 METAL WlNDOW FRAME Gabriel Chauvet, a Paris, France Application July 15, 1932, Serial No. 622,745, and

in France August 13, 1931 2'Claims. (01. 20-521) The invention relates to metal window frames having the following main advantages:

In theclcsed position, the sashes come into exact superimposition-in a vertical plane, whilst 5 leaving clear 90 per cent. of the area of the window opening.

. The entire sash'systemihas a light appearance, which is important from the zaestheticzpoint of view. I running by means of ball bearings on concealed guide rails.

The operationof the said sashes, in order to cause them to slide vertically, maybe efiected directly by hand. However provision is made for theme of asystem cit-operating knobs to lower the one or the other of the sashes which might be toohigh, in the closed 'position,'to be grasped directly by hand.

The sashesare "balanced by counterweights ,20 .connected to'thesashes by means of chains, passing over'pulleys.

- the open position, the sashes are housed, parallel 'to' one another, "below the window. opening which is left entirely free.

Each sash can be brought into any-intermediate position between the extreme points it occupies in the windowmpening.

The frame members of the window 'opening overlap in a manner ensuring-perfect tightness :against rain,-snow and wind.

. The recess situated between the bottom of the Window opening and thefiooring has a covering "panel, which: can easily be-moved .towan open position bykoperating an actuating device dis- .35 "posed in front of the inner facing of the-recess,

:position.

Theinterior: wall 'of the recess (which wall is hired) may be'provided with avent for the admission of outside air.

:Since the glazed =frames'or' sashes are operated directly by hand or by means of simple knobs which are adapted to bemoved vertically in the immediate vicinity of the window opening, such parts of the room as are .in front and at the sides of the window opening remain fully available for the accommodation of furniture, a radiator, etc.

Finally, there is nothing. to obstruct the in- .stallation on the outside of the window opening of the usual complementaryclosingdevices, such .55 as venetian blinds, jalousies, revolving shutters,

roller-blinds, etc., with operating means inside t the room.

The accompanying drawings illustrat e, byway of example, and in a somewhat diagrammatic manner, one form of construction of the invention, asapplied to a triple-sash window frame, it being understood that window frames comprising one, two, three or more sashes could be con structed under the same conditions.

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section on the line of Fig. 5 to show how the sashes, when they are lowered, are disposed in the recess or lower casing.

Fig. 1a is a vertical cross plane.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the guide rails on which roll the rollers of the sashes.

Fig. 4 shows the way in which it is vpossibl by means of an operating'kn'oblocated outside the room, to lift one of the counterweights balancing the highest sash.

of the window frame.

Fig. 6 shows diagrammatically how the actuating bar used for operating the external vertical p'anelf-of the-recess is made. 7

"Fig. 7 is an horizontal section on th of Fig. la andfshows'the manner in' which the frames of the sashesmake a tig'ht joint -relatively to the vertical sides of the window opening. Fired jmmalhis portion consists-of a. metal frame 'embedded in'the wall opening and-'com posed substantially of the uprights 1, top panel 2 and bottom panel or recess 3.

These three frame parts are boxed, the inner sidefacingthe interior of'the room beingcomposed of removable plates which may be screwed by screws, ,inorder to afford access to the members housed inthese several portions of'the frame.

Sash frames-Each sash frame compr ses a metal frame constituted by the cross-sectional shape shownin Figs. 1a and two :uprights These uprights-are-connected at the top by means of a cross piece 5 and at the bottom by a cross piece 9. The glassinsaid frames is mounted in a detachable but close-fitting manner by the employment of any-known means for that purpose. "Mounted onthe outer lat :11, and a bracket 12.

eral face of each" of the uprights 4 of each glazed frame-are anaxis fora lower roller '10, an :axis for an upper roller wwof the inner face Q- Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic vie In the following description, the three glazed frames will be designated, in a general manner, by I for the top frame, II for the middle frame and III for the bottom one.

Since each of these frames is actuated by identical means, it will be easy to identify in the drawings the members corresponding to any one frame by the index I, II or III marked-under the reference numeral of each of said actuating members.

General construction.Each glazed frame is suspended on two chains 13, each of which is attached at one end to the corresponding bracket 12. Each chain passes over a toothed wheel 14 and carries a balance weight 15 on its other end. Consequently there are two chains, two pinions and two balance weights (Fig. 5) for each frame. The two pinions are keyed, in pairs, on a shaft 16 extending inside the box of the upper panel 2 across the fixed frame. The chains and balance weights are housed in the interior of the uprights or vertical casings 1. The balance weights are guided by means of any suitable devices (not shown).

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that when the window is wide open the sash frames are housed parallel to each other inside the recess 3. Each of the Vertical sides 23 of the box forming the recess 3 is provided, in an identical manner with a vertical slot 24, a wide oblique slot 26 for the passage of the suspension brackets 12, and axes of the rollers 11. A similar slot 27 forming the continuation of the slot 24 receives theaxes of the rollers 10.

In the position represented in Fig. 1, the brack ets12 of the frames II and III are disposed entirely, in the slot 26, whereas the brackets 12--I remain in alignment with the slot 24, as is also the case with the axesof the rollers 111 and 16-1. The axes of the rollers 10 and 11 of the frames II and III, however, engage respectively in the slots 26 and 27.

All these rollers are mounted on balls, a point of great importance for the easy and noiseless working of the frames.

The upper and lower rollers 11 and 10 run on vertical guide rails 28 and 29, respectively, which, above the slot 26, are disposed in the same plane and may be formed as a single unit. Towards their bottoms, the rails 28 are continued by rails 28, following the lower edge of the oblique slots 26, whilst rails 29 follow the edges of the oblique slots 27.

Figs. 2 and 3 show clearly the guide ways in which the rollers of the sashes operate. It is to be observed that, for each sash, the lower roller 10, which is the nearest to the frame 4 of the sash, can enter a notch 81 of the partconstitut ing the curved extension 28 of the rail 28, whilst the upper roller 11 is above the said extension 28 which it is caused to follow at the same time as the lower roller 10 followsthe curved extension 29 of the rail 29.

Fig. 5 shows that the counterweights 15=-I, the chains 13-I and their toothed wheels are the more remote from the upper sash I, to which they correspond and to which the chains are connected through brackets 12.

The upper portion of the recess 3'is fitted with a cover which is in two parts, one, 30, being fixed and the other, 31, movable.

The cover part 31 is composed of a plate,

' mounted on spring hinges on a panel 32 formed by a frame carrying a'facing of fibro-cement or other suitable material. The bottom of this panel is provided with pivot pins 33, which enable it to swing and to take up the position represented by broken lines 31 in Fig. 1.

According to Figs. 1, 5 and 6, it will be seen that the operating bar 3'7 is rigidly connected to two rods 35 (one rod on each side of the recess). Each one of these rods 35 is mounted in fixed guides 38 andcarries a sliding sleeve 52 whilst a spring 53, bearing at 54, tends to press the sleeve 52 downwardly against a stop 55 of the rod. The sleeve 52 is provided with a finger 56 constantly engagedin a fork 57 of a bent lever 58 pivoted to a pin 59 carried by the sheet-iron plate 23, which separates the recess proper from the lateral sides or boxes in which are housed the chains and the counterweights balancing the I sashes.

To the upper end of the lever 58 is pivoted a small link 60, connected, through an articulation 61, to the panel 32. The said link is sufficiently remote from the vertical plate 23 so as to leave, between the said plate and the said link, the space which is required for allowing the lower rollers 10to pass. Fig.3 indicates the approximate place occupied by the said link 60;

To the lower face of each plate 23 (which face can be seen on Fig. 1) is pivoted, at 62, a flexible lever the arm 63 of which is connected to the arm 64 through the medium of a spring 65 which tends to bring the stops 66 nearer each other. The arm 63 is disposed in the path-of movement of a finger 67 connected to the corresponding rod 35, this finger passing into a slot 68 of the plate 23 The arm 64carries a roller 69 situated above a stationary stop 70. a

'Under'the stationary cover plate 30'is mounted an india-rubber strip '71 against which the edge of the movable plate'31 is'to bear.

The'actuating bar 37, integral with the rods 35, can be either raised or lowered between two stationary cheeks '72 provided each with two openings 73, 74 into which can enter. the ends 75 of rods 76 which a spring 7'7 (see Fig. 6) tends to spread'or force apart.

The'said rods '76 are connected to handles 78 which may be caused, by hand, to slide towards each other so as to act upon the rods 76.

Being thus constituted, the device controlling the panel 32 and its plate 31 operates in the following manner, in starting from the closed positionshown in Fig. 1:

The handles '78 are pressed towards each other so as'to cause the ends 75 of the rods 76 to leave the lower openings 73. At the same time, under the action of the springs 53 and 65, the rods 35 are raised slightly with the bar 37. The said bar is lifted until the rod ends 75 enter the upper openings 74.

When the rods 35 are raised, thestops 55 lift the sleeves 52 and the fingers 56 thereof operate through the levers 58 and the links 60 to swing the panel 32 to its open position.

Simultaneously, the rollers 69 of the levers 6463 drop upon the stop 70 and the plate 31,' after having first followed or even, due to its weight, pushed the roller 69 downwardly, is then urged outwardly with the panel 32.

When the said panel is in the said open position, one can easily reach thesashes and cause them to slide, by hand, upwardly so as to bring-them to the closed position of the window. In the same way, the said sashes can be returned into the recess by acting directly upon them by hand.

The said arrangement does away substantially with every actuating device acting upon the counterweights used for balancing the sashes.

After the panel B-Z has been swung outwardly the plate 31 can beraised by hand to the position in which it is shown in dot-and-dash lines 31*, in

Fig. 1. It is thus easy to reach successively the external surface of all the sashes in order to clean them.

In order to restore the panel 32 to the closed position, the plate '31 is first brought to a horizontal position and then the handles 78 are manipulated so as tocause the rod ends to drop into the lower openings '73 of the cheeks 72.

The greatest part of the down motion of the bar 37 is used for shifting the levers 58 which return the panel 32 and the end stroke of the bar is utilized for acting upon the levers 63, 64, the rollers 69 which raisethe plate 31 only when its inner edge has come just under the spring strip 71 against which-the said plate edge is finally pressed by the rollers 69.

When the sashes are above the plate 31, the latter is pressed against the spring flange 46 of the lower sash and the tightness is thus secured.

When the height of the window is such that the upper sash cannot, when the same is completely raised, be normally reached by the hand of a person standingon the floor, there can then be provided the device as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, which consists of a bracket 79 connected to a knob 80 passing through a slot provided in the lower face and projecting outside the latter. The raising of this knob by hand raises one of the counterweights 15 of the upper sash, which, being thus unbalanced, moves down to a sufficient extent to be grasped by the hand and brought into the recess.

To ensure a perfectly close fit, both between the frames themselves and between them and the sides of the window opening, each frame is provided at the top with a groove 45 to receive a rubber pad 46 which is let into a groove provided in the lower wall 47 of the upper panel 2 (Fig. 1a) or into a groove in the bottom part 9 of each sash frame. These parts 9 are provided with a flange 9 The pad 46 of the frame III is thicker in order that it will form a joint which has a complete tightness against rain, wind etc, when it is flattened out by the plate 31.

The vertical sides 4 of the frames are provided with ribs 48 in frictional sliding contact with a strip 49 of rubber (Fig. 7) embedded in a groove provided in the outer vertical edges of the window opening.

A surface 50, sloping towards the outside may be provided at the bottom of the recess 3. Air can be admitted into the room above said surface through openings 51 in the inner partition.

What I claim is:

1. A window structure comprising a frame, a plurality of sashes, and means mounting said sashes for vertical movement in the same plane and for lateral movement into spaced parallel planes, said mounting means comprising a pair of laterally spaced track elements at each side of the frame having portions disposed in the same vertical plane and respectively having upper and lower offset portions, and upper and lower rollers at each side of each sash laterally offset with respect to each other and cooperating with the respective trackways. Y

2. A window structure comprising a frame, a plurality of sashes, an inner and an outer trackway at each side of the frame, said trackways being disposed in a common vertical plane, the lower end of the inner trackway being spaced below the lower end of the outer trackway, the lower end portions of both trackways being directed inwardly, and lower and upper rollers at each side of each sash laterally offset with respect to each other and respectively cooperating with said trackways.

GABRIEL CHAUVET. 

